Mitumba

Pastor Shadrack and his wife, Violet, are Luos (that's one of the largest tribes in Kenya) and work in a slum called Mitumba.
Mitumba is a tiny little slum, a mere 15,000 people jumbled together in a tiny corner of the city. Airplanes from Wilson airport zoom overhead and across the fence is the edge of the Nairobi Game Park.
Mitumba is a Swahili word for "cast off," or "second-hand," or "worthless." It's the name Kenyans give to the huge loads of cast-off clothing that makes its way here from North America. It's Mitumba, cast-off, no one else wants it. Mitumba is where these people live.
It's also a state of mind. Pastor Shadrack knows full well that these people consider themselves "Mitumba." Of no worth. Cast off.
Shadrack and his wife, Violet, have been at work here since 2002 and their number one goal is to move this mindset from "worthless" to "of great worth."
They're doing an excellent job.
They and a crew of volunteers and staff educate over 400 children grades one through eight, and feed them too. They shelter over 20 orphans; kids who have lost both parents. They preach the Gospel and a lot of other things too.
To an outsider, the ramshakle buildings where this all takes place, tucked in Mitumba Slum, are nothing special. In fact, they don't look so much different from the other shacks and buildings going on. But the fact is, these buildings--and what happens inside them--is absolutely transformative.
Over the years, not only has education increased, but so has hygiene, and trust. Two years ago, when slum communitities around Kenya were erupting with violence because of the presidential elections, only Mitumba Slum was spared the violence. Shadrack and Violet were later recognized by the government for this rather impressive feat.
But more importantly, the people of Mitumba are beginning to realize that this name--Mitumba--does not have to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's just a name, and they do have worth. They're starting to know that now.
So for the next week, Daniel, Luke, Hani and Danielle will have the awesome privilege of trying to tell this story in a compelling way. It's one of the pro bono projects we're doing to do our bit to help those who are helping the poor.

Oh, Andrew showed up this morning so we're all here. Excellent.

Feels Like Home

We made it. After several false starts (strong winds in Newark mean a 3-hour layover in Omaha...nope, get on the plane it's leaving on schedule ... strong winds mean the flight to Paris is canceled...cancel the cancellation, the flight is leaving on time) we arrived in Nairobi an hour early. All went mostly well. We're missing Andrew. His flight out of Houston was delayed so he's on his own. We expect him in the morning. We're also hoping our luggage arrives in the morning.
It feels great to be back in Kenya, where I lived for 7 years. And it's great to share the experience with a dozen other people. In the days ahead, we're looking forward to meeting some great people, telling stories and using cameras and mics to help others understand the stories we want to tell.
Talk to you soon.

Into Africa

On December 29, 13 of us will travel to Nairobi, Kenya for our third, and final shoot in slums for the slum documentary film we're working on.

We have already tracked individuals living in slums in Asia and Latin America. The final piece of the puzzle lies in Africa.

I used to live in Kenya, so have a lot of contacts there. We'll be working closely with Pastor Shadrack Ogembo, Pastor Daniel Ogutu, and a new friend, Father Ted Hochstatter.

Ogutu and Ogembo have been friends of mine since 1985 when I first went to live in Kenya after my Jr. year in college. We'll be doing pro-bono work for all three of these men, like we did in Manila. Plus we'll be shooting stories for the slum documentary.

Pastor Daniel is my main contact for finding just the right family for the documentary. He has already sent me some pictures--the ones you see in this blog--of people he feels will help us capture the story of the one billion people living in slums.

So far, they are just faces in a picture. No personalities, no names, no family histories. The beauty of this project is taking anonymous folks like this, taking jpgs, and having the privilege of discovering who they really are. And helping our viewers discover that too.

For the last few months, our team of 13 has been through quite a bit together. We've done fund raisers, students have written letters asking for support, and we've planned things out. Now the funds are in and sufficient to make this trip happen. We're excited to create publicity materials for three different groups working among the poor in Nairobi, as well as get the material we need to create this documentary.

Please keep an eye on this space over the next few weeks as I'll be putting stories here of what we discover, who we discover, and what we learn about what I'm starting to refer to as "The Fourth World," the world of slums.